Peach Bowl 2021: Can Cincinnati hang with JT Daniels, Georgia?

The 2021 Peach Bowl will feature an undefeated Group of Five team going up against a SEC powerhouse. Will Cincinnati pull off the upset against Georgia?

Every year, one team from the Group of Five gets its chance to go head to head with a premier Power Five team. This year, Cincinnati will be tasked with playing on behalf of those teams and has a tall task ahead at the Peach Bowl when they play Georgia in a de facto road game.

Cincinnati is undefeated after running the table in the AAC and becoming the first unscathed champion in that conference since UCF in 2017. The Bearcats were a fringe playoff team, but inactivity caused their ranking to drop each week.

Cincinnati dominated the majority of their schedule, but had to play some tough games against UCF and Tulsa to close out their season. They won both of those games by a combined six points en route to their first AAC championship.

Desmond Ridder has been outstanding for the Bearcats in 2020 as a dual-threat quarterback. Ridder has thrown for 2,090 yards and rushed for 609. All while tacking on 29 total touchdowns on the year. Ridder does a great job in spreading the love across the Bearcats’ receiving room, as eight different players have caught a touchdown pass this season.

The Bearcats’ defense features a very balanced group that can sack the quarterback and find the ball. They have forced 19 turnovers and 26 sacks in their nine game sprint. Jarell White has been all over the field as his 2020 campaign includes:

• 74 total tackles (leads the team)
• 7 tackles for loss
• 2 sacks
• 2 interceptions (1 pick-six)

On the Georgia side, they had a very good season despite the inconsistency at the quarterback position. Losses to Alabama and Florida ended their chances at a national championship. But, they may have found new life with the quarterback change to JT Daniels. This is how Georgia has looked with Daniels at the helm:

• 3-0
• Averaging 41.6 points a game
• Daniels’ touchdown-to-interception ratio: 9-1
• 100-plus yard receiver in 2-of-3 games

As good as the passing game has been, it is still not the strength of this offense. The strength for this season has been the rushing attack led by Zamir White who has 740 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

Defensively, the Bulldogs feature many talents who we will be watching on Sunday’s for the foreseeable future. The defensive backs room is about as deep as any team in the country with Tyson Campbell, Richard Lecounte and Tyrique Stevenson.

Here is how you can watch this highly-anticipated version of the Peach Bowl:

Date: Friday, Jan. 1
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Location: Atlanta, Ga.
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Betting Odds

Courtesy of The Action Network

Spread: Georgia -7.5
Total: 50.5

Keys to Victory

Cincinnati

• Win on early downs and force JT Daniels to convert third-and-longs
• Do not allow Georgia’s running game to get into a rhythm (Georgia has rushed for 300-plus yards in each of the past two games)
• Take advantage of key absences (Ben Cleveland, Monty Rice)

Georgia

• Control the tempo of the game with running attack
• Pressure Desmond Ridder (has not been sacked more than two times in a game this season)

Prediction

Cincinnati has had a great season, but this is where I believe the cinderella ride ends. Georgia is too balanced on both sides of the ball for the Bearcats to pull off the upset. Daniels has turned this Georgia offense into a completely different unit.

If Cincy can keep the pocket clean for Ridder like they have been all season they will be on the right path to victory. But, I do believe they will struggle with a ferocious Georgia defense and offense that has hit their stride at the right time.

Final Score: Cincinnati 16, Georgia 31